In a typical wireless network such as a long-term evolution (LTE) network, the selection of shared data channels for uplink is scheduling/grant based, and the scheduling and grant mechanisms are controlled by a base station (BS) in the network. A user equipment (UE) sends an uplink scheduling request to the BS. When the BS receives the scheduling request, the BS sends an uplink grant to the UE indicating its uplink resource allocation. The UE then transmits data on the granted resource.